Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Tomorrow will be our last day in Yu Chih!

A Marathon Day of God's Glory..

Long time subscribers, today marked the final day of organised events and activity for the Taiwan Mission Team for 2010. This trip has been filled with tears, laughter, joy, remorse and compassion. The people of Yu-chih have reached out to all of us newcomers and past journey-men and provided a deep sense of gratification for their hospitality but most importantly demonstrating the power of God's love and blessings upon this town.

Today has been nothing short of a 'marathon'. We broke out in God's glory by conducting a 1.5 hr program for children (aged 5-10) at the local school. We had Lisa give her lovely testimony of how she came to know the Lord, acted two skits representing the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the parable of the unmerceful servant, sung hymns and christmas carols, played group games as well as an insight into the true meaning of Christmas.

This program was slightly tweeked and repeated in our afternoon program conducted at another local school. There is no doubt we have lost a significant amount of energy from the eventful-ness of the day but we have been humbled by God's righteousness and glory to push us through the times of discomfort.

Praise God for the following:

- For provided this opportunity to reach out to the People of Yu-chih

- For waking us up on time every morning to spend time with him through devotions

- For giving us the right mind and heart to serve him everyday

- For allowing us an enjoyable day of rest yesterday (details undisclosed)

- We've been kept safe and not led astray from temptations from Satan

Please pray for:

- Our remaining time to be dedicated to the church and people of Yu-chih

- Whole-hearted in our acts of service

- God to continue to work in Yu-chih

- The continued growth and rejuvenation of the youth and children of this church

- A safe journey back to Taipei and then onto Aussie-ville.

Thanks subscribers for following this blog.

Love and Peace out...

Your dark-skinned brother in Christ,

Jeremy~~

The Ultimate Update

Greetings,

Thank you once again for taking time out to read the blog and pray for God’s work. We have been super busy with the planned schedule but here is a quick update to summarise as I have some spare time before I head off to sleep:

Sunday – 20th December 2010

The church ran its own regular Sunday service. The service was EXTRA special with the return of Lily (the church planter). She preached about the peace that Jesus brings in our life. The service was so large, the narrow church was spilling out on to the street. The church doors were even removed by the blokes to make more room. The service was then followed by a lunch together. MY HIGHLIGHT: After the service, the youth helped the elderly onto the vans and washing the dishes. This was very encouraging to see that youth don’t just socialise after service but they do anything to serve one another.

Monday – 21st December 2010

The TW team ran a 4 hour program at a high school close to the majestic Sun Moon Lake. It was very interesting as we were very nervous about the program running. The program was filled with English lessons, a game of Jeopardy, sports (cricket/touch), testimonies, skits, songs and a short talk. MY HIGHLIGHT: Everything went well despite the doubt. And there was a super warm welcome given by the teachers and students.

Tuesday – 22nd December 2010

The team visited another school and there was a great response to the preacher Grace’s alter call. MY HIGHLIGHT: When I shared my testimony, a teacher (Fiona- who is a Christian) from the school helped translate. Not only did she translate, she asked many questions that also challenged the minds and hearts of the children.

Things to note: I’m still not use to the toilet differences. The food is great. The people are kind and generous.

Praise Points:
- Praise God for His sovereign plan for us
- Praise God for all the opportunities we have to share the gospel
- Praise God for given us wisdom and courage to spread the gospel
- Praise God for showeing us with many people who love us and care for us
- Praise God for the shelter and food He has provided for us

Pray Points:
- Pray that the team will be united
- Pray that we don’t just focus on the programs
- Pray that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit
- Pray that the team will be physically, spiritually and mentally well.
- Pray that we will rely on God and put all our worries to Him in pray
- Pray that the upcoming Christmas parties will be a “success” and that Gods word will be spread
- Pray that those preaching will be preaching faithfully and be filled with your wisdom and your Holy Spirit
- Pray for the next generation and leaders to be raised up
- Pray for a revival in the men of the church

Thanks once again guys. As we have a busy schedule ahead of us I really doubt we will have time to blog. Our Christmas program will be packed for the next few days.

Peace,

Susie

Saturday 19th December 2010

Many of us have already experienced the highs and lows of this mission trip and have contemplated on our purposes in serving here in Yu-chih. We all understand the struggles and hardships we face and will continue to face while being here - sickness, tiredness, discomfort and even feeling the sorrows of the children. However, we have constantly been reminded of the joys that come with knowing the true God and serving his people out of love for Him. Our morning devotion for today was from Hebrews 12:4 – 6 where we were reminded of our struggles against sin and to not lose heart when we are rebuked. Yesterday we experienced a slight hiccup in our visit to the hospital but this passage was a refreshing reminder for us all to remain humble and united.

This morning we ran the youth group and we presented a skit, sang a few songs and Heidi shared her testimony. We also read different passages and got the teenagers to present their own skits. Praise God that there were a few new people who joined in and they seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

For the children’s program in the afternoon we taught them a song, played a few games, performed a skit on the story of Jonah and ended with a craft activity. The children were all adorable and all participated in everything. Praise God for these children!

Extra praise points:
- Praise God for the pleasant weather today after having experienced the freezing cold yesterday
- Praise God for the smooth running of the activities and the openness of the youth

Please pray:
- for the little children here that they will grow to know and love Jesus
- pray for the youth group here, especially the leadership as they will be the next generation who will lead
- please continue to pray for the unity of our team and continual reliance on God
- pray for the rest of the planning on activities for the coming week


Blessings~
Lisa

Time Flies~!

Hello Supporters,

It has been sometime since our last update, we've been pretty flat this week with all the events, but it has been a rewarding one. It had been great coming back to Yu Chih to serve at this church. It has been encouraging to see how God has been working in this town.

Last Saturday we held 2 events, one in the morning which was the youth group and one in the afternoon for the Sunday school kids.

In the morning we got the youth to read four parables in different groups and then understand

what the parable was trying to tell us. After that we got the different groups to do a skit about the parable.

By the time afternoon came, we were ready to do a Jonah skit for the Sunday school kids.

On Sunday, we had church service and the founder of the church came back to visit and to

preach the sermon. The remaining time was used to prepare for skits and programs.

Monday was quite a day, we traveled back to Min Tan Junior High School. We did 2 hours of English lesson, before teaching them 1hr of cricket and rugby. We later then did 1 hr of skit performance, some songs and testimonies.

On Tuesday we went Yu Chi junior high to share the gospel. We had an alter call, it was encouraging to see that some wanted to know Jesus and wants to be saved! Later that night we went to hand out flyer to invite people to come to our Christmas Service on Saturday Night.

Going back to the nursing home on Wednesday, brought smiles and joy to the elderly. They enjoyed the performance, songs, testimonies and the time we were able to spend time to talk about us to them, made them feel loved and cared for.

Tomorrow will be our last event before the mission finishes. We will be doing two events both 1 and half hrs long. It will consist of Skit, games, Testimonies and Songs and the Gospel message to 180 elementary school kids. So please pray for good weather and the gospel message will be proclaimed and be planted in the hearts of the children.

Please continue to

pray for our unity

pray that we get enough rest and no sickness

pray that we can continue to glorfiy God's name through our actions by showing the people God's love

Jack

Puli Christian Hospital

In the last two days the team has had the opportunity to visit a local nursing home and a christian hospital. During these visits we sang songs, gave testimonies and perfomed some skits. God is so gracious in the way he provides for us, the warmth of the hospital stuff is really humbling.

The puli christian hospital has provided us opportunities to share the Gospel in hospital wards, they've also allowed us to use their chapel and gave us a tour of their history museum. It was humbling to see what God has been doing in this hospital. (started in 1955 by 2 missionaires from norway)

In the next few days we'll be running programs for small kids / high school teens. Please use this blog to look for prayer points.

Please pray for:

We can stay healthy (its very very very cold)

Stay united (8 more days to go, everything is going well so far)

Receptive hearts when we preach God's word

All Glory will go to God.

Thanks

PM

Beauty That Lies Within

Although, Yu Chih is a village that is spiritual dark, the church workers are like a light on a hill top. The church workers are known for their hard work and dedication to the people of the village and surrounding villages. Beauty that lies within. That is what we should all be looking at. The women that work here are so strong, charming, loving, welcoming, motherly and faithful.

Each morning, the team dedicates time to daily devotions on what missions is about, how we should use our time and knowledge, about Gods plan and how to glorify God. We are sure that there are greater plans for this village and its people.

The team has been united (praise God) and everyone has been really encouraging and supportive. God has given each of us a role through our gifts. EG: We had an early morning devotion up a mountain today. I couldn't get past 20 steps but Jeremy and Ivan (the boot camp assistants) made sure I got all the way to the top! Lisa and Ping have been great translators for those who don't speak fluently.

Some pray points:
Praise God:
- for strong and faithful servants
- for the love shown by the people and all the team members
- for the resources God has provided us with
- for having a plan for us
Pray:
- for team unity and for everyone to continually encourage and support each other
- for the health of the team members(Ping who is on the verge of getting a cold)
- for the Holy Spirit to guide the programs and events
- that each member of the team will be filled with Gods grace and the Holy Spirit
- that the gospel will be peached faithfully

YSIC,

Susie